WASHINGTON — The Council for Professional Recognition is pleased to announce that the Children’s Equity Project has received a grant from Trust for Learning, that will focus on increasing the knowledge, awareness and understanding of early educators on issues of equity, bias and systemic racism. The Council is honored to be partnering with the Children’s Equity Project to further the sector.
The Council, which administers the flagship credential for early childhood education the Child Development Associate® (CDA), is committed to ensuring the credentialing process has an equity lens embedded within it. This work aims to improve the learning conditions of young children of color and other children from historically marginalized communities.
Over the next year, the two organizations will focus on continuous improvement through the:
- Review of the CDA credentialing process and development of an equity strategic plan
- Development of a series of equity training modules
- Presentation of webinars for the field on matters of equity and access
Dr. Shantel Meek, Founder of the Children’s Equity Project, says, “Systemic racism exists in every U.S. system. The early care and education system is no exception, and sadly, even our youngest learners are not immune to its effects. It’s essential that every part of our system centers around equity and identifies actionable ways to address it. We’re thankful for the support, and humbled to partner with the Council, who have led on these issues for decades, on this exciting new endeavor to concretely embed equity into the foundation of the credentialing process.”
Council CEO Dr. Calvin E. Moore, Jr., says, “Unfortunately, there are many structural inequities in the early care and the education field. This work comes at a crucial time. We want every aspect of our credentialing process to reflect the diversity in the field and give educators the tools to ensure their students are successful.”